Steve Kerr — “this is my rant” — for 2+ minutes on the presidential election: “Maybe we should’ve seen this coming” pic.twitter.com/MJOcSdXxHH
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) November 10, 2016
On Tuesday night, after the results came in and it became clear that Donald Trump would be elected President of the United States, the reactions from the majority of the NBA world were a combination of shock, disbelief, and disappointment.
J.R. Smith posted a heart-wrenching message to his Instagram account wondering how he’s supposed to explain this outcome to his young daughter. Teammate LeBron James opted for a bit of a more positive approach. Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy dispensed with all pretext and delivered an angry diatribe decrying Trump and everything he stands for.
On Wednesday, Warriors coach Steve Kerr joined his ranks and went on a two-minute rant expressing his own righteous indignation about both Trump and the general tone of this election cycle.
“Maybe we should’ve seen it coming over the last 10 years,” Kerr said. “You look at society, you look at what’s popular. People are getting paid millions of dollars to go on TV and scream at each other, whether it’s in sports or politics or entertainment. I guess it was only a matter of time before it spilled into politics. Then, all of the sudden, you’re faced with the reality that the man who’s gonna lead you has routinely used racist, misogynist, insulting words. That’s a tough one.
“I wish him well. I hope he’s a good president. I have no idea what kind of president he’ll be because he hasn’t said anything about what he’s going to do. We don’t know, but it’s tough when you want there to be some respect and dignity. There hasn’t been any, and then you walk into a room with your daughter and your wife, who have been insulted by his comments, and they’re distraught, and you walk in and you see the faces of your players, most of them have been insulted directly, as minorities. It’s very shocking. The whole process has left us kind of disgusted and disappointed. I thought we were better than this.”
It shouldn’t be surprising that most people around the league are on the same page regarding the outcome of the election. Many players have become increasingly outspoken about the police violence against the black community and – if not directly – have thrown their support behind the Black Lives Matter movement.
Trump’s pledge during one of the presidential debates to bring back some version of “stop and frisk,” a controversial police practice that was ruled unconstitutional in New York largely because it disproportionately targeted minorities, would be enough to turn many away.
But it also goes deeper than that. Numerous players vehemently dismissed Trump’s claim that his comments about sexual assaulting women amounted to little more than “locker-room talk.” And the backlash likely won’t stop any time soon, with the wound still fresh and the repercussions of a Trump presidency only just beginning.
